RED OAK: Beyond the Mirror

[Longman]

Room 1 is the secret room. You know that, right?

You did leave that other secret door open by a crack, yes.

If I'm reading you right, you have not cast web, so all that happens is that everyone goes into room 2 - and then Freya waits back a bit to see if you are being followed.

She can't hear anything. Nor can Anna. It has gone very quiet.

According to your post you are all in room 2, waiting. Is that actually correct, or did you intend to go into the secret room?

PS - this is kinda vital stuff, so if you want to wait til you get back to a decent net with the maps, that's OK with me.

[Woe]

Ok, now with more details.

They will hustle back to room 1, which means Tiana will knock on the wall. Once inside, they will close and lock up the secret door. Then Tiana and the dwarves will head over to 7 and close that door too. If Freya is feeling well she can go, but otherwise she won't. She will stay with the humans right on "tunnel" (on the map) so they can reinforce the trio if needed, but also so the blue light stays out of sight of 1. Obviously, the northern secret door in 1 stays open. If it won't stay open on its own, I'll figure something out. Once all of the exterior secret doors are locked, they'll head back to 2 and hang out a bit to see what happens.

[Longman]

OK, I am going back to what happened originally which was that you just went straight to room 1 and all got inside and you do not know if you were followed or not but you can't gear anything.

The internal secret door - it is possible to leave that a bit ajar, wedged, like you did with the one into #7.

Freya is now insanely itchy and her movements are hampered (all actions at -2 in fact). She will not be the quietest member of the party - that's probably Anna. But on you instruction, the dwarves go to close the door into # 7. They do a pretty quiet job of it, and they get the door closed.

Everyone is in 'the secret tunnel' at this point, lights well hid.

Soon after, there are suggestions of movement outside the secret lair - in room 2, and also in room 8. Whatever they are, they are trying to be quiet, and not succeeding. Several of you hear them. In fact, Kilian even hears some "whispering" from room 8 and recognizes goblinish.

Once all of the exterior secret doors are locked, they'll head back to 2 and hang out a bit to see what happens.

Surely you mean you will head back to room 1? Also - do you want to move now, and risk being heard in here, or do you want to wait, and hope these creatures go away?

[Woe]

Numbers are hard. I did mean hiding out in 1 not 2. Sorry about that. And they are going to wait it out.

When Freya decides that she's a liability for the stealth, she'll head through the mirror as well and join the other invalids. I'm not sure when that appears in the timeline, but it is before she starts sneezing or goes raving mad.

As for everyone else, they are quietly listening and waiting. if they hear any noises from the north (the passage to 7/8), they'll quietly close the other secret door and lock that.

Assuming nothing bad happens, they are going to settle down for the night. Same activities as last night, though Tiana and Anna should look at Freya's skin.

[Longman]

Everything gets very quiet in the secret passageway and room 1.

You can still hear some noises outside, especially around room 2, and the east bit of room 5. You can't hear exactly what is going on.

Freya moves back through the mirror at this point. Everyone else is quiet as possible and can hear that despite her best efforts, she is making slight noises as she moves in through the mirror opening.

As for everyone else, they are quietly listening and waiting. if they hear any noises from the north (the passage to 7/8), they'll quietly close the other secret door and lock that.

No noises from the direction of room 7 in the last 30 seconds. Closing the north secret door from room 1 could be done in almost perfect silence. It's not like a big heavy 'clunk' when these secret doors close. It's a small 'click'. That's all.

BTW - the raised lumps / welts on Freya's skin are the same as the ones Talin had a few months back, when he thought he had angered the Hare God while out hunting one day. I hope you remember that.

So, I figure you have closed the north door from room 1 and are sitting there waiting? Is that correct?

[Woe]

Correct. And they'll rest with double watches. The party will go with the usual downtime activities -- Tiana trying to figure out these magic devices do, Talin and Tiana trying to crack the Old Salenish code, Kilian poring through the tomes looking for weaknesses in the golems, etc.

Are the golems the kind of creatures that the gnomes would have created?

[Longman]

Well, first things first - -

the hobgoblins - or whatever they are - seem to stay in the area outside (in room 2 and 5) for quite a while - about half an hour. They are not knocking on the secret doors, and never make it into the secret tunnel on the west side. But they are around, definitely. No one can really hear them, except Anna. At one point she is sure she can hear something clanging, a metallic object, followed by more whispering.

After the half hour, the noises stop. After a further half hour of silence, it seems safe.

Now - are you really waiting in room 1, or are you crossing back through the mirror?

See OC for a big long post about magic stuff.

[Woe]

Yes, the party will be split between the two rooms. Abigall can be our Florence Nightingale, nursing the wounded back to health. They'll all spend the rest of the day/night sleeping, reading, etc. One watch in each, with the mirrors aligned so both guards can see the other.

Talin's rash cleared pretty quickly. I'm hoping it's the same for Freya. All the same, Tiana and Abigall (and Anna if she's so inclined) will look at her rash and see if the healing should be accelerated by washing, or to leave alone.

[Longman]

Now I'm a bit confused because I thought Abigall and Fido were in the first secret room all the way across the other side of the bridge. But whatever...

nothing happens overnight.

Freya recovers from the itchiness, which really only lasted about an hour but was quite debilitating while in effect, even just on her hands and some parts of her face and neck. Everyone gets a hit point back who needs one. Fido gets 2 hit points back, as he was in full rest. Kilian gets 2 hit points back for being a higher level.

In the morning, I have you spaced out on both sides of the mirror. Verbal communication is not possible but you can write each other notes, etc. Or just stick your heads through to talk.


It is the First of September! You have been playing 5 months. Today is a half moon, and will be a small festival time back home. There will be larger and more traditional harvest festivals on the week of the 23rd, which happens to be a dark moon this year. There is a lot of folklore around that time, which said to be the entry into the 'dark time' of the year. The next actual full moon is on the 9th.

[Woe]

Now I'm a bit confused because I thought Abigall and Fido were in the first secret room all the way across the other side of the bridge.
Oh! Perhaps they are. Were. I lost track of them. Heck, I even had Abigall scouting around when she wasn't present. Sorry.

Fido gets to rest more, and Abigall can spend the day figuring out how to communicate the creepiness of the other side to Tiana.

There is a lot of folklore around that time, which said to be the entry into the 'dark time' of the year.
Is that called "foreshadowing?"


Oh what a beautiful morning! The sun shining (maybe), the wind whistling in the leaves (somewhere)... Freya misses the outdoors. Kilian, though, is quite content in the dreary, rocky passages, all alike.

Which side was the metal clanging coming from, and was it something that would sound like the golems, or not?

No noises came from 7/8, right? The party will exit that way, taking 7 again. Anna in front, checking for traps -- especially a crazy cage trap dropping from the recessed alcove in the ceiling.

Does Freya have equipment to make some traps of her own, simple snares perhaps?